Hoosiers (1986)

Directed by David Anspaugh. Starring Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper, Sheb Wooley, David Neidorf, Chelcie Ross, Fern Persons, Maris Valainis, Wade Schenk. [PG]

Feel-good small-town sports drama brings Hackman’s disgraced college basketball coach to a rural Indiana high school in 1951 to take charge of the unexceptional and undermanned team (and also do a little teaching, but the movie never bothers to show him inside a classroom). Hackman is rock solid as usual, and Hopper makes a good impression as an alcoholic who’s given a second chance by becoming an assistant coach—it’s easy to forget that Hopper’s Supporting Actor Oscar nomination was for this film instead of his unforgettable portrayal in Blue Velvet that same year—but, really, all of the performances are fine, and director Anspaugh exhibits refreshing restraint in several scenes, allowing the wistful, dawdling atmosphere to overcome the farm community clichés. Yet there are repeated continuity lapses, and even if you give in to the inspirational underdog hook, far too many plot developments and character decisions all but materialize out of thin air because the formula requires them to happen, and the movie doesn’t do the necessary legwork. Pretty good for its type…a type that happens to be in the “all feeling, no thought” category, which is clearly enough for many moviegoers considering the movie’s celebrated reputation among sports genre fans. Inspired in part by a tiny high school in Indiana (Milan High School) that won the state championship in the 1950s. Released as Best Shot in most international markets because the word “Hoosier” is largely meaningless outside the U.S.

65/100